Vhagar
Vhagar was one of the dragons used by Aegon The Conqueror and his sisters during The War of Conquest. It was named for one of the gods of old Valyria. Vhagar was ridden by Visenya Targaryen, Laena Velaryon and Aemond Targaryen. Appearance and Character None of Vhagar's colours are explicitly mentioned, not even her flame. During the War of Conquest, she was already a huge and ferocious dragon. By the time of the Dance of the Dragons, and the deaths of Balerion and Meraxes, Vhagar was one of the largest dragons in existence. She was said to have been as big as Balerion himself was, and only Vermithor, the Bronze Fury, was close to its size. It is said that Meleys was one of the few dragons who could match Vhagar in combat, despite the latter being a hardened and pitiless survivor of a hundred battles. Vhagar was a destructive, quarrelsome and aggressive creature all her life, even for a dragon. Her roar was one of the most fearsome of any of her kind, noted to have shaken the very foundations of Storm's End during her prime. Vhagar was notably unperturbed by her old age, and could contend with the likes of Caraxes even though she was nearly two hundred years old. Visenya herself admitted that Vhagar was a quarrelsome beast, as dangerous as Balerion and Meraxes and as terrifying as any dragon that would ever succeed her. History Vhagar hatched on Dragonstone during the Century of Blood, and she was named for a Valyrian god, just like Balerion and Meraxes were. She was claimed by Visenya Targaryen, the sister-wife of Aegon, before she married the Conqueror. Vhagar flew with her fellow beasts Meraxes and Balerion and their riders, to Westeros. She was utilised during the War of Conquest, being flown into battle in the waters of Gulltown, where she and her rider Visenya destroyed the Arryn fleet. During the battle that became known as the Field of Fire, for the only time in history all three of the original Targaryen dragons took the sky at the same time. Together, Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion the Black Dread killed four thousand men, burning them alive. King Mern died, and with him House Gardener. The army was broken and Aegon I was victorious. Vhagar's fire could melt a knight's armor and cook him inside. Vhagar was later flown during the subjugation of the Vale of Arryn, albeit far less bloodily. When Sharra Arryn confronted Queen Visenya, the Valewoman found her young son King Ronnel in the company of the Valyrian warrior-queen. Ronnel begged for a ride on Vhagar, which Visenya allowed, but (unbeknown to Ronnel) on the condition that the Arryns surrender their crown. While Ronnel flew on the mighty dragon, Visenya collected the crowns and swords of the Vale. Vhagar was flown by Queen Visenya until the day that the woman died. The dragon fought in the First Dornish War, destroying every Dornish stronghold they found, with the sole exception of Sunspear. After the death of King Aegon, Vhagar ignited the pyre that the Conqueror was placed upon. After his successor Aenys named his son Prince Aegon the Prince of Dragonstone, Visenya left in a fury on her dragon. Apparently, as Vhagar flew off, the moon turned red as blood. When Aenys eventually died, Visenya flew Vhagar to Pentos to collect her son Maegor, and proclaim him king. Maegor, who at this point flew Balerion himself, joined his mother flying back to King's Landing, which set off riots throughout the city from terrified citizens. Soon enough, Maegor's reign proved almost as bloody as the War of Conquest - throughout said reign, Visenya would use Vhagar to obliterate the keeps of several houses. During Maegor's war against the Faith Militant, Vhagar would have been used to shatter Oldtown itself if the High Septon hadn't mysteriously died before this could happen. Visenya eventually died, leaving Vhagar riderless. This would remain so until late into the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, where Laena Velaryon, first wife of Prince Daemon Targaryen, would tame Vhagar. She flew the great dragon frequently, often in the company of Daemon and their niece Rhaenyra. Laena died in 120 AC, apparently while trying to reach Vhagar in her final hour to take to the skies one last time, but wasn't strong enough. After the lady's death, Vhagar was once again riderless. However, the bold but dragonless Prince Aemond Targaryen, second son of King Viserys I Targaryen, dared to approach Vhagar. He was briefly halted by his half-brother Prince Joffrey, but managed to mount the dragon anyway. Vhagar roared, broke her chains and flew twice around Driftmark before landing. When Aemond dismounted he was confronted by Joffrey's brothers Jacaerys and Lucerys. A fight ensued, in which Aemond lost an eye. However, he would later view an eye as an apt price to pay for such a formidable dragon. Aemond used Vhagar to wreak destruction during the Dance of the Dragons. The huge dragon killed Prince Lucerys Velaryon and his dragon Arrax, that was 5 times smaller, during the dance of Shipbreaker Bay. Despite Arrax being faster, a terrible storm that day caused him to slow down a lot, and both dragon and rider were easy prey for Aemond and Vhagar. Next Vhagar and Aemond worked together with Aegon II and his dragon Sunfyre, the Golden, to kill Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, the Queen who Never Was, and her dragon Meleys, the Red Queen, during the Battle of Rook's Nest. While Meley could have defeated Vhagar alone, she couldn't defeat both dragons, and was killed alongside her rider. After the fight, only Vhagar remained relatively unharmed, its partner Sunfyre was greatly injured, alongside King Aegon II. Aemond took Vhagar to ravage the Riverlands alongside Lord Commander Ser Criston Cole, but Aemond left the army without a dragon as he wanted to cause destruction on his own, this in the end provoked the death of Cole. Dragon and rider remained destroying the Riverlands for many months until they were challenged by Prince Daemon Targaryen and his dragon Caraxes, the Blood Wyrm, to a fight in Harrenhal, as Daemon wanted revenge for the murder of his stepson Lucerys. They waited for thirteen days at the shores of the God's Eye, until Aemond and Vhagar arrived at the fourteenth. During the fight that followed between them, Daemon jumped from Caraxes in mid air, and killed Aemond by stabbing him in the eye with Dark Sister. Both dragons crashed in mid air and fell to the lake, Vhagar drowned, Caraxes managed to swim ashore, and died sometime later, while the body of Daemon was never found. The bodies of Vhagar and his rider weren't recovered until some years after the war, the body of Aemond was still strapped to his chair, with Dark Sister in his eye. At the time of her death, Vhagar was one hundred and eighty-one years old, the mightiest dragon at the disposal of King Aegon II Targaryen and his greens, the oldest beast on either side, and the last surviving veteran of Aegon the Conqueror's subjugation of Westeros. Her skull can be found at the Red Keep in King's Landing. Category:Dragons